national govt & politics

Some text messages between a pair of FBI employees, including one who was part of the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and its possible ties to President Donald Trump, have been recovered, Justice Department officials said in a letter sent Thursday to lawmakers.

In a letter addressed to Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Inspector General Michael Horowitz said authorities were able to recover some of the text messages sent between Strzok and Page.

“Our effort to recover any additional text messages is ongoing,” Horowitz wrote. “We will provide copies of the text message that we recover from these devices to the department so that the department’s leadership can take any management action it deems appropriate.”

Lawmakers raised questions after learning in a letter dated Jan. 19 that a misconfiguration of software upgrades on FBI-issued cellphones meant that messages between employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page did not get captured for five months, between Dec. 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017. Strzok and Page were in a romantic relationship, according to CNN.

Both Strzok and Page were part of the FBI investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while in office.

In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, dated Jan. 20, Johnson wrote that the missing messages were concerning because “it is apparent from other records that Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page communicated frequently about the investigation” into Clinton’s emails.

In a tweet sent Tuesday, Trump also asked to know what had happened to the missing text messages.

Strzok, who had been assigned to work on Mueller's team, was removed last summer following the discovery of anti-Trump text messages he exchanged with Page. By the time the messages were found, Page had already finished her stint on Mueller’s team, according to CNN.

“I’ve always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not. And so, it’s not something that interests me. I don’t have the DNA for it,” Winfrey said in an interview published on the magazine’s website Thursday.

“I met with someone the other day who said that they would help with a campaign. That’s not for me.”

Fans called for Winfrey to run for president after she gave a rousing, nearly 10-minute speech at the Golden Globes on Jan. 7. She was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her contributions to the entertainment industry and used her time to address the “#MeToo” movement against sexual harassment and assault.

Speculation was fueled by comments by Winfrey’s partner, Stedman Graham, who told the Los Angeles Times after the speech that Winfrey “would absolutely do it.” Winfrey’s longtime friend, “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King, later said she believed that Graham misunderstood the question and thought he was being asked whether she would make a good president.

Unidentified friends of Winfrey’s told CNN earlier this month that she was “actively thinking” about running for president, and King said Winfrey was “intrigued” by the idea, but not “actually considering it.”

“Gayle -- who knows me as well as I know myself, practically -- has been calling me regularly and texting me things, like a woman in the airport saying, ‘When’s Oprah going to run?’” Winfrey told InStyle. “So Gayle sends me these things and then she’ll go, ‘I know, I know, I know! It wouldn’t be good for you -- it would be good for everyone else.’”

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed last week by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office as part of the ongoing investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and its possible ties to President Donald Trump’s campaign team, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

On day two of the U.S. government shutdown, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans would not adopt President Donald Trump’s call for a “nuclear option” to pass a budget with a simple majority, The New York Daily News reported Sunday.

“The Republican Conference opposes changing the rules on legislation,” a spokesman for McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement to the Daily News.

The Senate is set to reconvene at 1 p.m. Sunday.

In a tweet Sunday morning Trump had called for the Senate to change the rules on filibusters, which requires a 60 votes to advance a bill. Trump’s “nuclear option” calls for a simple majority of 51 votes.

“Great to see how hard Republicans are fighting for our Military and Safety at the Border. The Dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked. If stalemate continues, Republicans should go to 51% (Nuclear Option) and vote on real, long term budget, no C.R.'s!” Trump tweeted.

The government officially shut down just after midnight Saturday when the Senate could not muster enough votes to advance a new spending bill.

Republicans have branded the deadlock the “Schumer Shutdown,” blaming the impasse on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Democrats. meanwhile, have called it the “Trump Shutdown.”

“President Trump is right — build the wall, deport criminals, stop illegal immigration now,” the ad said, showing clips of top Democrats. “Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants.”

On Friday, Senate Democrats opposed a short-term spending bill to fund the government and keep it from shutting down after Republicans refused to include a provision to protect thousands of immigrants brought here as children.

UPDATE, 10:03 a.m. 1/21/2018: Despite the shutdown of the United States government early Saturday, the NFL announced Sunday morning that the Armed Forces Network will air the AFC and NFC Championship games.

The NFL also said it is providing free access to the games via NFL Game Pass to all USO centers.

Meanwhile, Congress is back at work Sunday, attempting to create a deal to end the shutdown.

ORIGINAL STORY: As a result of lawmakers failing to resolve a standoff over immigration and spending, the United States government has been shut down indefinitely – meaning everyone has been affected, including troops overseas.

There is a lot of fallout from the shutdown. From government employees who aren't being paid, including the Defense Department, to the Armed Forces Network being taken off the air, the effects of a standstill government can be felt across the board.

The NFL says it is providing free access to Sunday's Championships via the NFL Game Pass to all USO centers.

"No matter what, I'm going to watch them," Connolly said.

Sen. Ed Markey says he's in a holding pattern right now as he says he and most of his colleagues are preparing to negotiate through the night – but it's still unclear if that will be an option.

Immigration issues are at the center of the shutdown. Many Republicans don't want to negotiate on those issues until a spending bill is passed and the government re-opens.

However, those immigration issues – including the DREAMERS Act – are a priority for many Democrats.

Markey told WFXT that he believes everyone needs to continue working to find some sort of compromise, and he wants President Donald Trump to take the lead.

"Bill Belichick is telling the New England Patriots for tomorrow, 'Do your job,' and we are saying to President Trump for tomorrow, 'Do your job, Mr. President. Make sure that the funding is there for our troops. Make sure that our defense is taken care of, but make sure that we also protect child health and the Dreamers,' but thus far he's been unwilling to do his job," Markey said.

“He’s manifestly unqualified, not curious, not good at legislating or doing anything that his job requires. He doesn’t have any depth about any subject,” he said. “And he’s also using the office of the presidency as a way to make money for himself with his businesses, so he’s corrupt.”

“I can’t say anything nice about the guy. I think he’s one of the worst people I’ve encountered in public life,” he added.

When asked for his response to a Trump presidency, Legend said: “He’s been consistent about being a racist and about a couple of other things, but he’s also been wildly inconsistent and lied a lot. So we truly don’t know how he’s gonna govern.”

Legend added: “We haven’t seen anyone like him before. It’s a very kind of different world now, knowing that someone’s going to possibly dismantle a lot of what Obama accomplished. I don’t know where we’re going to go.”

Legend went on to say he believes it is his role as an artist to “tell the truth and reflect what’s going on.”

“We just have to be vigilant and get through this, and then hopefully it’ll be over soon,” he said.

A series of women’s marches, protests and voter registration events are taking place across the country this weekend.

This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. In 2017, the Women’s March on Washington drew a large crowd that marched in protest of Trump’s election. Women’s marches were held across the country and the world.

For 2018, marches and rallies are being held in cities across the country throughout the weekend. There will be a voter registration drive on Sunday in Las Vegas.

Trump was scheduled to arrive at Palm Beach International Airport tonight for a weekend trip that included a Saturday fundraiser for his 2020 re-election campaign at Mar-a-Lago. The official who confirmed today’s travel is off did not address the president’s plans for the remainder of the weekend.

Trump was planning to make the 12th Palm Beach visit of his presidency. But Congress has not reached a spending agreement to keep the federal government operating past midnight.

Saturday is the one-year anniversary of Trump taking office. The Trump campaign recently announced a “special sweepstakes” in which a winner will get to attend dinner Saturday at Mar-a-Lago with Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.